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Sunday, 13 April 2014

TLFG: 14-21 April 2014

Hi there and welcome to TLFG's Easter special.

Apart from the Christmas and New Year period, the coming weekend is probably the best one to be in London if you want to see a few games because there are matches on the Friday, Saturday and Monday. Consequently, this week's blog runs from Monday to Monday rather than Monday to Sunday and there are two match maps to make finding games a bit easier.

Another good feature is the staggered kick-offs we have, especially on Monday 21 April. This means you could do a groundhop triple and see three games in one day (UPDATE 20/4/14 - you can now only see two games - see below).

There are loads of combinations thanks to the Combined Counties League scheduling most of their games at 1130am. Leyton Orient's huge game against Wolves starts at 1215pm meaning you could possibly nip down to Millwall or further out east to Dagenham & Redbridge whose games start at 3pm. In the late kick-offs there are games at non-league clubs Barnet, Worcester Park and Southall at 515pm, 645pm and 745pm respectively (UPDATE: 20/4/14 - the Worcester Park match is now at 1130am and Southall is now 3pm). There are other matches kicking off at other odd times throughout the day so check the match map for details.

Here at TLFG we like to help clubs promote special offers and events. Over the last few weeks a number of our local clubs have successfully run free entry or pay what you want schemes. The next to try it out in two weeks time are Ryman League club Corinthian Casuals who are hosting a Family Fun Day on Saturday 26 April. Good luck to them.

In south-west London on 26 April? Give this a go

Don't forget, you can get all the latest ticket information for our local clubs and other big games taking place in the capital on the 'Match Ticket Info' page .

GET INVOLVED

If you're going to see a game, whether you're a local or a visitor, please let me know what you've been up to. If you're interested in reviewing a ground within the London area for this blog then get in touch. You might also want to have a go at writing a 'Top Ten' one week. I also very much welcome photos of your football travels.

Got any questions about visiting London? Don't hesitate to ask - be they football or more general travel/touristy queries.

You can contact TLFG through the comments section below or via Facebook, Twitter or even by good old email.

LATEST TICKET NEWS

Please follow this link or click on the tab at the top of the page for all the information you need about how to get a ticket, what's currently available to non-members at London's biggest clubs and any other special offers or promotions which might be running.

THE WEEK AHEAD

There are 135 matches in the London area over the next eight days so there's plenty to choose from whatever your budget.

However, in case of bad weather, please make sure you check with clubs before you traveljust in case a game has been called off or venue has been changed. Also, please let me know if anything is wrong or missing.

Details on all of this week's games can be found in the following match map. If you've never used it before, please note that when there is more than one match at a specific ground you'll only be able to see individual match pins if you zoom right in. If you don't, the pins obscure each other and you might miss them. To avoid this, you can also scroll down the list of games on the left side of the map page to make sure you get all the information.

Also if you're unfamiliar with the English league structure I indicate the level at which an individual league sits in the national 'pyramid' with the Premier League at the top (Level 1) and various minor leagues at the bottom (Level 10). Typically a top level game will see crowds of anywhere between 20,000-60,000. These figures will gradually decline as you go down the leagues until you get to Levels 8-10 where attendances of 150 or less are most common.

It should also be noted that the top four levels are for fully professional teams. Level 5 has a mixture of professional and semi-professional teams, while Levels 6-10 will see most players paid but it will vary from no more than travel expenses at the bottom, right up to several hundred pounds a week at the top (e.g. clubs in the Conference South).

Next up is this week's TLFG match recommendations where I list a few games which I think could be worth a watch. Usually I put together a Top 10 but there are so many this week that I'll list as many as I can. If I miss one that you think should get a mention then add your own in the comments section below.

6 comments:

thanks for the great Blog :). I fly with two friends to london from 18.04 until 21.04. On Friday we have tickets for the match of AFC Wimbledon. On Saturday we have a big problem at the moment :(. We have tickets for the both games of West Ham and Chelsea London, because we thought the match of chelsea is on sunday -.-. Do you think it is possible to see both games about the full time? We have only 45 minutes between the games. Or do you know who would buy the tickets? On Sunday we still search a game. Do you know a game in the near of London for sunday?

On Monday we would to see a game on 11:30 pm and at 3 o'clock we go to QPR. In the Afternoon the last game will be Southall :). Do you want with us to the games?

Hi Paul,Thanks for your kind words. It sounds like you have an excellent weekend planned. Sadly you will not be able to make it from West Ham to Chelsea in 45 minutes. With perfect connections it takes about 50 minutes to get from Upton Park to Fulham Broadway but that doesn't include the amount of time you will have to queue for a train straight after the match and the five-minute walk at either end to and from the stadiums. In other words, I wouldn't expect you getting to Chelsea much before half-time. If you've not been to Chelsea before then I'd recommend still trying to attend so you get the experience but check with the club first in case they won't let you in - I think this is doubtful.

If you want to sell or let go a ticket, also ask one of the clubs if you can return it. However, I think you need to get it back at least 48 hours before the game for a refund. Ticket resale sites are only for season-ticket holders so you might struggle using viagogo. If you try to re-sell to someone, the Chelsea game is sold out so there should be more demand for that one.

As for Sunday, there are three Premier League games with the nearest one in Norwich. However, they are playing Liverpool so only a few tickets are left and may have gone by now. Check their website as soon as possible. The train ride from London takes about two hours. Apart from that you could try some women's football. The season has just started and Chelsea Ladies are playing Liverpool at 2pm on Sunday. They play at Staines Town's ground and tickets are £5.

On Monday I recommend you go to see the game at Wembley FC at 1130am and then get the train from Wembley Central down to Shepherd's Bush for the QPR game. Southall's ground is then an easy Tube ride from White City to Perivale although you might want to get some food in Shepherd's Bush first as you'll have almost three hours and there's not much to do in Perivale.

I'm working all weekend so won't be able to go to any games :-( but if you want any more info or restaurant recommendations for Shepherd's Bush then let me know.

By the way, do you have tickets for the QPR game already? If not, they are limited to people who have booked tickets before so you might struggle to get one. Also, would you like to meet some QPR fans before or after the game as I should be able to arrange that.

I'm not sure at all - that's what the CCL website said at the time I wrote this and getting info about Worcester Park online is tough. I thought it was unlikely as they don't have floodlights and it will be dark by the full-time! I see that all such info has now been updated so I'll correct it. Cheers

About Me

I'm a QPR fan and follower of Harrow Borough in the Isthmian League.
In 2010 I set up Non-League Day to help promote semi-professional and grassroots football. I'm hoping that TLFG will help provide a similar boost for football clubs around the capital.
I also worked at BBC Sport for 10 years before it relocated to Salford but decided not to go, such was my love of London.